Conversion Academy [boyxboy]

Conversion Academy {24}

"Today is the day we die," I said as Leo and I tied our shoes on.

"It'll be rough, but we'll be fine by the end of it. Kaz won't let them win," Leo said.

"I hope you're right," I grumbled.

We finished getting ready and went out to meet with the others. We left the dorms and started off towards the academic building.

"No matter they say or do to you, just remember that if you can hold out long enough for one of us to drag you back to your senses, you'll be fine," Kaz said. He looked calm as the academic building came into view, though we all knew he'd be the main target of whatever Constance was planning.

"That goes for you too, Kaz. Stand your ground," Mikayla said.

"I always do." He led us into the building and we all steeled ourselves as we entered Mr. Sternberg's classroom.

We took our seats and waited anxiously until Mr. Sternberg came into the room. He looked over pleased, which made my stomach sink. Shit, everything was about to go to hell. Good thing I was already flaming.

"Today, I thought we could talk about how you all came to be the way you are. If you can face the things that turned you down dark paths, maybe you can go down a better path," Mr. Sternberg said, smiling as he projected his laptop screen onto the bigger monitor.

My eyes widened a little at the newspaper articles that detailed a teenage boy being arrested after the attempted murder of his mother. The pictures of an angry boy that accompanied the articles all showed him without a smile on his face. He looked so similar to Mikayla that I had to look between her and the pictures.

Mikayla herself was staring at the pictures, trying to comprehend what was happening. I skimmed the articles quickly, realizing that Mikayla had only been 10 at the time of the attempted murder, and her brother had only been 15.

"A weak attempt," Kaz said, breaking the shocked silence that had fallen over the class. "Right, Mika? The bitch deserved it."

"Drake didn't do anything wrong," Mikayla said, finding her voice again. "He'd run your ass over too, Sternberg."

"What were you trying to prove here?" Leo asked. "That you could do a Google search of Mika? Congratulations. What else you got?"

Mikayla suddenly gave a dangerously pleasant smile at Mr. Sternberg. "Hey, Sternberg, want to know something? I knew what my brother was going to do to the bitch we called a mother. And I didn't stop him. I didn't tell anyone. I just let him do it. And I don't regret a thing."

Note to self: Never fuck with Mikayla.

"And then you vandalized a church. No wonder God abandoned you," Mr. Sternberg said.

Mikayla looked from Leo to me, surprising me. She turned her gaze back on Mr. Sternberg, eyes confident.

"God didn't abandon me. He gave me my friends here," she said. "Sorry that you can't make peace with God, but I have."

Mr. Sternberg brought up the mug shot of Mikayla's brother. In it, he showed no regret for what he'd done. "Drake R. Holly" was captioned under the picture. He brought up another picture alongside of it, which was a school picture of a 9 year old Mikayla with a black eye.